The Sitanadi Trip contd...

The Sitanadi Trip – Part 2

Day 1: July 14, 2007 Agumbe Saturday morning….The driver took us through the pouring rain and the potholed filled roads past Shimoga and Tirthahalli towards Agumbe. All of us were so tired that we hardly noticed or felt the bumpy roads except on one or two occasions. At about 5:30 am in the morning we were on the verge of entering Agumbe when we were stopped at a police checkpost. It was a routine security check for Naxalite related activity. This security check had woken everybody and we were on our way to Agumbe. We followed the road signs and also asked whoever was around for directions. As we covered Km after Km, the road ahead was starting to disappear. No, we had not hit a dead end or a road block. We were engulfed by thick fog.

The TEAM
(From left: Sunil, Shiva, Randhish, Ashwin, Vishal, Jiten, Ashley, Bala and Lavanya)

The road ahead

All of us alighted from the vehicle and decided to enjoy the fresh morning air and also the environment outside. Now we knew how heaven would look like. A few of the team members clicked photographs. There was no one in sight. We could see the shadowy figures of a couple of kids running in the fog with football in hand. This made a couple of us chuckle at the idea of playing football in this dense fog when let alone the football, neither the opponent nor the team mate would be visible. After a few more clicks of the camera, we decided to continue our journey. A further half hour into the journey saw us approaching the Agumbe Ghats with a range of hair pin bends suitable for a F1 race. I’m sure there were butterflies in some of our stomachs as the driver negotiated these bends. The closer we got to our destination, the narrower the roads kept getting. Finally after a good 10 hours of journey, we reached the Sitanadi Nature Camp @ 8am.

The front gates were thrown open for us to enter. There was dense foliage all around filled with the constant chirping of birds and insects alike. To top it all there was this narrow stream flowing right through this path. All of us were really excited and very very hungry. As we got down from the vehicle, Prashanth, the local organizer showed us to our dormitories (for men) and tents (for the ladies) respectively. He hurried away to arrange breakfast for us. Even before he left, he asked us to come prepared for the rafting trip which was scheduled after breakfast. It was going to be an eventful day.

Our hideout - The Dormitory

Our backup hideout – The Tent

We settled down with our belongings in the dormitory and the tents respectively. The breakfast was ready at 9am. The men quickly refreshed themselves, got dressed for the special moment ahead and were ready to gorge on the breakfast prepared. Even though the men had helped themselves to two helpings of a delicious breakfast, there was no sight of the women folk. This was one of the many times Vijay’s skill as an organizer came to be tested. After two or three visits by Vijay to their tents, the women folk were still nowhere to be seen. Either this says a lot about Vijay’s skill as an organizer or even more about women’s age old custom of getting late for any occasion (more of this in the coming pages). You have the luxury to choose who was to blame. Anyways, when the breakfast was about to be taken back to the kitchen and nearly finished, the women appeared out of nowhere and were surprised that there was not enough breakfast for them. They satiated themselves with whatever was left. It was now 10am. We were now eagerly looking forward to the rafting to begin.

A rollicking time down the river….

At about 10:15am, Sharath, the organizer for the rafting trip, asked us to get ready for the next item on the itinerary – the much awaited river rafting. He had arranged for a mini van which was waiting to take us to the starting point of the rafting trip about 5Km from the camp. By the time all of us got into the mini van, it was jam packed.

White water rafting is an unbelievable experience. If you trying it for the first time don't worry, expert personnel are there to guide you.

Rafting is a team effort and it is important to act in tandem with fellow rafters as you navigate through the powerful rapids. When there is more pressure on the left side of the raft, the team members have to move to the right and vice versa. The instructor tells you on which side you should shift to maintain balance and whether you should row backwards or forwards. Safety is paramount so you cannot get on the raft without wearing a life jacket and a helmet.

Besides the unbeatable thrill of feeling the force of nature, you can also enjoy its calmer side as you travel through evergreen forests.

On reaching the start point, the expert personnel from Adreno laid down the ground rules to be followed by each and everyone of us. This briefing included wearing the safety jacket and helmet, the do’s and don’ts while on the raft, the sitting position each one should assume, the rules while rowing and do’s and don’ts if any of us were to fall in the river. We were divided into 3 groups and an instructor was assigned to each group. These instructors were all Nepalese who had expertise in rafting activities. These groups looked like F1 teams in the pits.

Before each group went into the river, there was another round of briefing by the instructor. We hoped the next 3 hours would pass as slowly as possible so that we could enjoy the journey to the hilt. The 3 rafts were blue and white in color. Let’s name the blue raft guys as team “Renault”. The guys on one of the white rafts were wearing red safety jackets and yellow helmets. So let’s call them team “Ferrari”. And the guys on the third raft had orange jackets. Hence we’ll name them team “McLaren Mercedes”.
The 3 teams have been named after popular F1 teams just to avoid confusion. Team Ferrari and Renault had a few of the people from Cisco. But all of us on the McLaren Mercedes team were from MindTree \m/

Team Ferrari

Team McLaren Mercedes aka MindTree \m/

Team Renault

Team Renault started of first and took a sizeable lead followed by team Ferrari. After having given the other teams a good lead we started on the race track. We were determined to finish the race (well it wasn’t actually a race-but to enjoy it a bit we raced against each other) ahead of the other two.

The river was infested with poisonous snakes. Locals had reported of 18-20 feet king cobras in the river. The locals have seen signs of crocodiles on some occasions during the rainy season when the river swells. It was a rare sight and we hoped to see one soon.

Ok back to the race. Team McLaren Mercedes was gaining on the other two teams and it was at this time that the other two teams panicked. One of the crew from team Renault lost his balance and fell into the river. Since the river was smoother and shallower in this area, he quickly got back on his raft. They had certainly lost some time. Team Renault was now in third position. The other two were fighting it out. There was a hands distance between the first two teams.

The rapids were very close now. Not a good time to overtake. We managed to survive the first two rapids and so did the Ferrari team. We slowed down a bit after that and this gave them some considerable lead and maybe made them a tad over confident. We then raced down the river gathering good momentum. The team work was phenomenal and the late charge of the McLaren Mercedes team caught the Ferrari team off guard. We vroomed past them. They were never able to reach us again till a particular incident made the safety canoe come out in the open (more about this sometime later). The Renault Team was struggling to keep up and time and again we had to slow down to conserve energy and wait for the other two teams to catch up.

Now for the incident…We were coasting along and had just crossed over another of those rapids.. when something happened and no one knew it had happened. We were thrown off balance.. by something underneath.. Whether it was the turbulence due to the rapids or a python gliding underneath, no one knows. One of the crew from the McLaren Mercedes team (yours truly) fell off the fast moving raft head first into the turbulent river. Some team members felt someone was missing..did not know who it was..Twas indeed a funny situation. After this all three teams came to literally a standstill someway down the river. It was time for the safety canoe to save me.

All this while, I was trying to keep my head above the surface of water but somehow kept getting pulled downwards. Little did I know that I had dived into a giant whirlpool. When we had started this race, the instructors had told us not to panic incase we fell into the river and that a bag would be thrown to us in the eventuality that this happened. I kept waiting for some bag being thrown into the air or someone approaching to save me. But nothing happened. All the three teams stood at a distance staring at me. It was a very awkward situation to be in. I hoped for some help and also looked out for snakes and pythons in the vicinity. As I fell head first and hadn’t felt the need to learn swimming till now (believe me), I had gulped down a lot of river water filled with nutrients, vitamins and what not. I had no other option. I wasn’t thirsty at all. But someone had other plans. I tried to remain calm but it didn’t look that way. The whirlpool was twisting away my body and from a distance it must have looked as if I was struggling for my life or panicking. Anyways it took some time for the safety canoe to come my way. I was very happy but the happiest moment was yet to come. I held along some rope at the back of the canoe and it glided down at a rapid pace down the river. Me at the back of the canoe with my both hands stretched forward, I felt like Superman. It was awesome moment that. I thank the heavens that no slithering disturbance came my way.

In no time the safety canoe reached my team raft. I was not shocked or anything but some people did and were trying to lift my spirits. The team urged me on and we were more motivated than ever to beat the other two teams to the finish line. Again we gave the other two teams a sizeable lead. But they didn’t have the kind of co-ordination which we had. In no time we caught up with them and maintained a steady pace. After sometime when we turned back, they were nowhere in sight. So we slowed down yet again and some of us decided to take a swim. The river was shallow here and the currents also were not strong. So it was not a problem. This was kind of a pit stop.
After 3 hours of competitive racing, team McLaren Mercedes beat the other two teams fairly easily and the crew could not hide this delight. Happiness was writ large over each of those tired faces.

Podiums finish for the winning raft

The mini van which had taken us to the starting point awaited us at the finish line. All of us were simply speechless. We were very very happy and also sad at the same time since this river rafting trip was coming to an end. But there were many more things to look forward to.
We reached the Camp and were drenched not only due to the river water but also due to the rains. It was raining on and off as we were rafting. So the need to refresh was unanimous and obvious too. After a good cold water bath courtesy the solar panel and also the local organizer, we were refreshed. Just before lunch, the team had decided of a possible visit to a beach nearby. Lunch was ready. We, the men swooped down on the lunch. The women were late yet again and Vijay decided not to try his luck this time. After a sumptuous lunch, all men had thought that a 15 minutes rest would do no harm. What was thought of as 15 minutes turned into 3 hours and all men had a sound sleep. For once, it was a good opportunity for the women to complain :P

To be continued........